Baseball America has released their top ten Phillies prospect list, and John Manuel has done a bang-up job. Pretty much saw it as we did (here). Click here for an overview with information on bonuses, top prospects of the decade, and a projected 2013 lineup. The list below…

Rank, position, name, club(s) in 2009, with LAK)

• 01. OF Domonic Brown (CLE, REA, w/ LAK 2008)
• 02. RHP Kyle Drabek (CLE, REA, w/ LAK 2007)
• 03. OF Michael Taylor (REA, LHV, w/ LAK 2008)
• 04. C Travis d’Arnaud (LAK, 2009)
• 05. RHP Trevor May (LAK, 2009)
• 06. OF Anthony Gose (LAK, 2009)
• 07. C Sebastian Valle (WPT, LAK, 2009)
• 08. RHP Jarred Cosart (GCL)
• 09. LHP Antonio Bastardo (REA, LHV, PHI, w/ LAK 2007)
• 10. OF Domingo Santana (GCL)

Quick thoughts…

• Four of the top seven were members of the 2009 SAL Champion BlueClaws, and that doesn’t include All-Star 2B Harold Garcia, RHP Justin De Fratus, RHP BJ Rosenberg. No wonder the BlueClaws had a good year.
• Cosart and Santana, especially Cosart, could be with Lakewood in 2010. Cosart was teh 4th ranked prospect in the GCL this year. Santana is just 17.
• Interesting that they project Valle as the Phillies 2013 third baseman.
• No real surprises here. I imagine Brody Colvin is in the top 12 or 13.

More notes on each of the top ten below the fold.

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We’re going to take a shot at projecting the Phillies top ten prospects as ranked by Baseball America, who will unveil their Phillies rankings on Monday. First, a few quick notes on guys that were in the top ten last year that will not be there this year:

• Four of the top ten (Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald) were traded to the Indians in the Cliff Lee deal in July. So obviously they’re out.
• JA Happ was eligible as a prospect last year but is no longer eligible this year after going 12-4. He’s a front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year.
• Last year: 1. Domonic Brown, 2. Carlos Carrasco, 3. Marson, 4. Donald, 5. Kyle Drabek, 6. Michael Taylor, 7. Travis d’Arnaud, 8. Zach Collier, 9. Happ, 10. Knapp, full top 30

So, who are the big movers this year?

• Anthony Gose led all of MiLB in steals and was voted the most exciting prospect in the SAL at age 18 (until August 10th).
• Trevor May was a 4th round pick last year who missed some time in the spring with a back injury. He allowed three earned runs in his last 37 innings with Lakewood and was virtually unhittable at the end of the sesason.
• Sebastian Valle didn’t hit that well first go-around with Lakewood, but was 18, catching two days a week, and mostly DHing. When he went to Williamsport, he was outstanding.
• BJ Rosenberg wasn’t even ranked in the top 30 last year but pitched to an ERA just north of 1 between Lakewood and Reading. One of the rare ones to double-jump and skip Hi-A.
• See a trend? All were key factors on the 2009 SAL Championship BlueClaws club.
• Also should mention Drabek, who was outstanding in his first year after Tommy John Surgery.

Other notes…

• On a media/broadcaster survey done by the Reading Eagle, Brown, Taylor, and Drabek were 1-2-3 in some order on all ballots. It is impossible to forecast anyone else in the top three when the list comes out tomorrow.
• This system was ranked 12th last year by Baseball America…should be higher this year (the top three are all arguably top 30 prospects). And that’s despite trading away four of their better prospects for Cliff Lee.

Onto the projections (this is how we think Baseball America will rank them)…

1. Domonic Brown: missed some time with a finger injury this year, but hit about .285 between Clearwater and Reading at 21 (turned 22 on 9/3). He topped the list last year, no reason to think he won’t again this year.
2. Kyle Drabek: Putting a premium on high level starting pitching. There are only so many potential aces in this game and they’re so valuable. Drabek produced at Clearwater and at Reading and will be 22 on Opening Day.
3. Michael Taylor: Hard to believe he hit .227 in his rookie campaign with Williamsport (2007). All logic says that he will be in the big leagues at some point in 2010 after hitting 20 home runs between Reading and Lehigh Valley.
4. Travis d’Arnaud: Just 20, he didn’t let a .200 first half get to him, had 29 doubles in the second half and got stronger as the year went on playing a demanding position. Trade of Marson confirms him as catcher of the future in the organization and has power to all fields.
5. Trevor May: Again, a premium on pitchers. Big, strong 6-5 righty will have to cut down on his walks but a lot of that was early in the year and he fanned 11 per nine at 19 in the Sally. Takes Knapp’s place as the system’s next big pitching prospect.
6. Anthony Gose: 76 stolen bases speak for themselves. But I thought the best thing that anyone said about Gose was Dusty Wathan’s comment that after the game “You don’t know if he went 0-4 or 4-4.” He’s incredibly poised and already a great defensive player.
7. Sebastian Valle: Might be a little bit of a stretch but realize his early struggles in Lakewood came when he was catching two days a week and primarily the DH. He hit .315 catching every day at Williamsport and just learned the position a few years ago. He’s 19 and will likely be Lakewood’s Opening Day catcher this year.
8. Brody Colvin: Baseball America had him in their top 50 among draft picks last year. The Phillies took him in the 7th round and signed him away from LSU. I’ve never seen him. He’s only thrown one game as a pro. Have heard good things…Note that he’s here because I think Baseball America will put him here. Looking forward to possibly seeing him in Lakewood this season.
9. Antonio Bastardo: 24 year old went 2-2, 1.75 with Reading, his primary spot, but was called up and to Philly and was on the playoff roster for all three rounds this year. Still a little green as he was with Lakewood in 2007, when he went 9-0.
10. Yohan Flande: Lefty went 4-4 with Reading and his strikeouts dropped 7.4 - 6.4 from his time at Clearwater. But he made the Futures Game in his second year in this country. Is just 23. Still upside here.
11. BJ Rosenberg: Bonus pick, was him or Flande. Rosenberg fanned 11 per nine w/ Lakewood and 7 per w/ Reading. But he was basically unhittable with the BlueClaws. Have to figure that he could be in AAA this year and in the bigs not too much after that. He’s 24.

There you go.

Last week we gave you part one of our interview with Matt Forman of Baseball America, who ranked SAL prospects here. That focused on offensive players, and here we’ll look at the pitchers (7. Jason Knapp, 19. Trevor May, NR. BJ Rosenberg) and some general issues and thoughts.

Q: What did you like about Trevor May?

A: I was a little surprised at the consideration he was getting from managers and scouts. There’s not too much of a difference between May and Knapp, with both being big-bodied guys who throw hard. May is a few tickets lower than Knapp (92 vs 95) but they’re similar bodies, arm slot, sinker/slider. The difference might be in May, that’s he’s a little more compact. But I think he was just a buy that really surprised me and everyone else. He wasn’t on anyone’s radar screen, but it’s hard to ignore the performance.

Q: Was BJ Rosenberg close to making the list?

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Baseball America recently put four 2009 BlueClaws among their top 20 South Atlantic League prospects in an annual post-season ranking (see ranking here). We wanted to take you a little bit more in-depth on those player, so we sat down for a Q&A with Matt Forman of Baseball America, who made the list.

We’ll start with the offensive players (13. Anthony Gose, 17. Travis d’Arnaud, NR. Harold Garcia). Next week, we’ll talk about the pitchers.

Q: You were here for Gose’s home run in game one of the finals against Greenville. What was your take on him?

A: I was very impressed. Just reading the scouting reports before I saw him, I thought he was in the Michael Bourn mold. But he’s got more upside than Bourn does…He’s a hard-nosed guy that doesn’t wear batting gloves. He’s got some pop, and plays a shallow center. He can track anything down. His arm is strong. He’s the complete package.

Q: Is there a comparison with a current big leaguer?

A: He’s like Carl Crawford, in that he has the four tools now. For Crawford, the power came later in his career. You think he (Gose) can hit for power down the line, though I’d like to see a little more from him in playing the small ball game. He could wreak havoc with his speed.

Q: What did you see from Travis d’Arnaud?

A: If he were in a more hitter friendly park it wouldn’t surprise me if he hit .275 with 20 home runs. His doubles  number (38, led league) was very impressive. His hands are good and he has a very compact approach…

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Some repeats here from the Florida State League top 20, but Baseball America’s Eastern League top 20 is out and the list features three former BlueClaws (full list here). Domonic Brown and Kyle Drabek repeat, as they were ranked three and five in the FSL List. (write-ups on Drabek and Brown are the same as last time, just switched their numbers…they are ranked in different order here but different people did each ranking…note though, John Manuel did the Eastern League, and he had Brown atop the Phillies list in the off-season, so him moving Drabek up is notable).

3. Kyle Drabek, RHP: Recovering from Tommy John surgery always raises questions, but Drabek answered them all with ease this year. He had a 2.48 ERA and 10.8 Ks/9 with Clearwater and 8-2, 3.64, with 7.8 Ks/9 with Reading. Drabek made the Futures Game this year, was shut down at the end of the year, and didn’t pitch in the Reading post-season. But the year was a smashing success for the 21 year old, who will likely debut at some point in 2010. He was with Lakewood in 2007.

6. Domonic Brown, OF: It raised some eyebrows when Baseball America had him #1 in the Phillies system at the beginning of the year, but not now. He had a great year, hitting .301-11-44 and acquitting himself well (.279-3-20) in 37 games with Reading. He just turned 22 in September and might well be ready for Lehigh Valley when the 2010 season opens. Like the man behind him and Michael Taylor (who will be at or near the top of the Eastern League list), he’s probably among the top 25 or 30 prospects in all of baseball. Was a BlueClaw for the duration of 2008.

9. Michael Taylor, OF: Taylor scalded the ball with Reading, hitting .333-15-65 over the first three months of the season before a promotion to Lehigh Valley. With the IronPigs, he hit .282-5-19 in 30 games and confirmed, as best he could in a short time period, that he could hit at that level. He turns 24 in December and hasn’t debuted yet. He’s under the Phillies control until his 30th birthday.

Previously: Florida State League, South Atlantic League, NY-Penn League, Gulf Coast League